Fluid pressure operated steadyrest



Nov. 1,l 1932. R. A. COLE 1,885,233

FLUID PRESSURE OPERATED STEADYREST Filed Feb. 10. 1926 Hqymond A. Cole aan? Qgmw Ppatentecl'Nov.y 1, 1932 o NnrffsrMESg PATENT( olf-FICE RAYMOND A. COLE, on woRCEs'rER,v ivrfAsSACriUsEtrmS,` A ssIeNoR To" Ro'Rtroiv*"CoiifEAiY',VV

oEwCRCESTER,l MASSACEUSET'JIS, A CCRPCRATICROEMASSACHUSETTS n j` 'y 'FLUID PRESSURE or'ERArEnv 'STEA-DYRE'ST 'Application' levd. February 10, 1926. lSerial No. 87,414.

'SMy -invention'relates Y* to steadyrestf for a grinding machines and more particularly toa steadyrest which isautomatically controlled by a fluid pressure mechanism tosupport the work duringtliegrindi'ng operation.V j v l ,i lleretofore,V various. steadyrests have designed for supporting I long'` cylindrical Work of relatively Small: crosssection'to pre-v vent the Work from springingvout fofaxial El" alignment during the gri-ndingoperation under the pressure or thrust of the grinding wheel7 and to prevent vibration andthe con-Y sequent Vformationof chatter marks on the surface of thevwork. The accurate adjustil ment of the shoes of such steadyrests depend Y largely `upon the Vskill'of the' operator `in so turning the adilisting:screwsl asnot to spring the work out vofaxialalignment asfthe steady rest shoes arefadvanced totake caregofa rre-V 2o ductionrin 4the' size oftheworki Q Several at-y tempts have been made to design automatic steadyrests, but none of these has been wholly satisfactory in viewl of difficultiesexperienced Most steadyrests a depend largeliyfjupon the l skill of the operatorto continuallyadjust and maintain thesteadyrest shoes vin Contact with the-work at the proper pressurefagainst 'the 41E vsurface of the work during the grinding op-- eration to maintain the axis o-f the work inVV correctl alignment. It isfonle vobject ofA my inventionto overcome this difliculty and t0 provide a steadyrestof the two bearingshoeY Y contacts with thefwork'at a point adjacent the a grinding wheel, -be brought yinto operative position before the horizontallyfmovable front shoe ismoved into contactV with the 'm work. Y It is a further object .of my invention been in adjusting and" setting up'fthe rests for. a y givenoperation.V

to so construct :a pneumatic steadyrest ofthe two bearingtype that the control mechanism automatically'moves the lower shoe into conj i tact with the work totake ,upthethrustf ofthe grinding wheel'before the secondary -conzontalshoe. 1 L o y It is a further object of my invention to so construct my steadyrest that it may beiman.- ually adjusted independentlyof the. pneumatic control to position the v'steadyrest shoes relative to the work usting them for any givenoperation. Y Y v Further objectswill-he,apparent fromthe following disclosure.-

.i yInfthe''drawingl in Y mera-ls indicateflike parts :`A l j 'i F`g'ure l* is an end VleW Paay Shown section of-my two-bearingtype pneumatically operatedl resthaving the air npiping shown diagrammatically vto clarifyA the operation of section of` amodified construction of a-single` bearing shoe rest.

automatically operated/mechanism to mainf tain the bearing shoes 1n. contact with the surface of the work ata uni-formpressure duringthe grinding operationsothat any vibrationor springing of theworl vvout of axial alignment is preventedivthereby reducing chatter marks on thefnished work to a mini- 1 mum. I may apply my mechanism to any'of whichvrlike4 reference nuj I trolmechanis m yoperates,to-*Ifnovethe horig i the well known types of steadyrests but in my preferred constructio'n utilize a steady- -rest of the itwo-bearing type. f rlfhis come prises a fluid pressure ydevice operatively connected with tlieshoes which is preferablyV so relative to the Vworlrindependently ofVVV each other, for setting up the steadyrest 'forjvdifferent sizes off'work.

j ln. my Apreferred arrangement;theV automatic mechanism -is so constructedlthat the lowerbearing shoe is moved into contact with the Work at a pointadj acent'to thelinevof-con i :ao 1` arrangedgthat'the shoes vmay loe'jadjustedV l. i 'L'Inaccordanoe lwith my invention, l provide v f a 'steadyrest forgrinding machines with anv a moved into operative contact with the work. The lower shoe is at all times during the grinding operation retained against the surface of the work with a sufficient pressure tending to spring the work outwardly away from the surface of the grinding wheel and thereby preventing any tendency of the work to spring toward the grinding wheel. Likewise on .withdrawal of the shoes after the work has been reduced to the desired size, it is preferable that the horizontal shoe be removed from operative contact with the surface of the work before the lower shoe is withdrawn.

As illustrated, I have shown a steadyrest of the two bearing shoe type having a lower bearing shoe 11 supporting the work 12 at a point below the work and adjacent to the line of contact between the work and the operative face of the grinding wheel 13. The horizontally movable shoe 14 is positioned to contact with the work at a point substantially opposite the line of Contact between the work and the grinding wheel. The surface ofthe shoe 11 is preferably at an angle so that it bears against the work at a point as near as possible to the line of contact between the grinding vwheel and work so that the shoe tends to hold the work away from the operative face of the grindingwheel to prevent the horizontally movable shoe from forcing the work out of axial alignment and into the grinding wheel. The 'bearing shoes 11 and 14 may be mounted in any suitable way on the frame 16, but in my preferred construev tion, I mount the shoe 11 on the pivot pin 15 for a swinging movement toward and from the work so as to permit the shoe to contact with the surface of the work adjacent the line of contact between the grinding wheel and the work. The shoe 14 is preferably mounted on the frame 16 for a sliding movement toward and from the work in substantially a horizontal plane;

To move the bearing shoes toward the work as the grinding wheel reduces it in size, I utilize a fluid pressure mechanism for automatically advancing the shoes as the work is ground, and I preferably employ a pneumatically operated manually controlled mechanism which automatically advances the shoes and maintains them with a uniform pressure against the operative surface of the work during the grindingV operation. To move the shoe 11, I mount a pneumatic cylinder 20 in the portion 21 of the frame 16. A pistion 22 of suitable construction is arranged to slide longitudinally within theicylinder.

VThe outer end of the piston rod 23 has a bearing inthe cylinder head 24 and is provided with the usual packing box 25 to maintain an air tight joint as the piston slides within the cylinder. The pistonrod 23 is provided with av central opening 30 having an adjusting rod 31 therein which has a threaded portion 32 the shoe 11 to move the same toward andv from the work. The operator may turn the knurled head 33 to adjust the rod 31 relative to the piston and thereby position the shoe 11 .as desired.

The steadyrest shoe 14 has a substantially horizontal sliding movement relative to the frame 16 and is operatively connected to a suitable piston 5() fitting within they cylinder 51 which is supported in the frame 16. The piston 50 likewise has a piston rod 52 having a central o-pening 58 whichA is threaded and adapted to receive the adjusting rod 54. 'Ihe adjusting rod 54 has a screw threadedjportion 56 at its outer end and a knurled portion 57 to turn the same. rEhe inner end of the Vrod 54 is connected to the end portion of the bearing shoe 14. j

' Ihe shoes 11 and 14 Contact with the work y on opposite sidesof the work center -so as to oppose the thrusts of one another. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the bearing shoe 14 has an elongated slot 17 of suihcient size to surround the cylinder 20 and having suliicient clearance to permit the shoe 14 to slide toward and from the work through the desired distance. By utilizing thisconstruction, both shoes are positioned so that they co-ntact with the work substantially opposite each other and the grinding wheel, and each sh-oe receives the direct thrust of a fluid pressure mechanism to hold them against the surface of the work.

In order to operate this device, I utilize air under pressure obtained from any suitable source of supply, and preferablyregulated,l

as by means of a pressure regulating device and a throttle val-ve, to give a constant and desired pressure to control the rate of movement of the shoes. This air is admitted to the cylinders through a supply'pipe connected `thereto by a suitable valve mechanism. The

inlet and outlet openings tothe cylinders are so arranged that shoe 11 moves before shoe 14. As shown, the air valve 40 is arranged Yto admit air from the inlet pipe 41 through the pipe 42 into the chamber 43 in the cylinder 20, whereby it forces the piston 22 downwardly until the work shoe 11 engages the surface of the piece ofwork to be ground. By this time, the port in the cylinder 20 has been uncovered or opened by the downward movement lof the piston 22 and permitscompressed air to pass through the pipe 66 into the chamber 62 of thecylinder 51 fand moves thejpiston 50 inwardlyto bring the bearing Ishoe 14 into operative Vcontact with'y lthe surface of the work 12. The two shoes 11 and'14 will then bear against the surface of the work during the grinding operation. The v,downward movement of the pistons continues until the projections 44 and`64 of the pistons 22 and zo portion ofthe cylinder20,*therebyfforcing 5o respectively contact with .the .beam of their lrespective cylinders 20' and' 5l. The

Y shoes 11 and 14fshould be adjusted so that when the pistons have reached the bottoms of the cylinders, thework has been reduced to the desired size. The operator, by turning the valve 40 to its opposite or reverse'position, reverses thedirection off flow oftheair andpasses it through the pipe `into the' chamber 71 of the-cylinder 51 tomove theL y piston 50 outwardly and thereby Aremove the vshoe 14 from contact with theV work. The

lower shoe 11v is held in its operative position until the horizontal shoe has Abeen moved out of operative contact withthe surface of the work. As the piston 50 moves outwardly to remove the shoe 14 from contact with the work,.it opens a port72. inthe wall of the adjusting rod 431.` l

cylinder 51 and permits to` pass through the pipe Z3 into the chamber`74 inthe lower the piston 22 upwardly to move'the lower bearing shoe 11 out of contactzwith the surface ofthe work. The shoe 11 isfsoconstruct-O edthat the outerportion of the bearing shoe` Y is of sufficient weight toioverbalance A'and l maintain the inner end of the arm at all,

timesin contact with the l-ower endof the To limit the manual adj ustmentof the rods 31 and 54 in one direction, I providea pair ofv supporting members and 81, ittedjtc')l theI outer endsofthe piston rod.23 and 52-re.-V

spectively, andlocked inv-position on the rods by set screws.Y These members are provided with the stop pins 82 and-83 respectively positioned in thepaths ofthe stop screws 84 and 85. y These stopl screws are carried by the' clamping members 86 and 87 which are'screw threaded onto the threaded portions 32and 56 of the rods 31 and' 54 respectively. 'By

, steadyrest, as illustrated in Fig. ,1, is pan,- ticularly adapted for supporting or steadying long piecesl of cylindrical work havingv a rela! /turningthe members 86`and 87 relative to the screw threaded portions32 and 56,V the stoppingpoint of each adjusting rod may be varied to limit the inward manual adjustment of the shoes. The members 86 and 87 are each provided with a clampingV screw so that they may be locked in .adj usted position to the rods 3.1 and 54.- Thesestops are particularly adapted for useV where it isdesired to manually adjust the rest to limit 'the inward movement of the bearing shoes. This tively small Vcross section togpreventthe axis ofthe work springing out ofalignment and to prevent chatter marks Y on the work.

v If it is desired toremovethe-shoes 11- and 14 from the surface lof the work duringthe grinding operation to caliper or gaugethe work, it ismerely necessary for the operator to turn the air controlvvalve to change ythe direction of flow of the vair. j The shoes will .the surface of move rapidly away from the workand give'` the operator ample space vtoy caliper-or gauge lthe work. This "feature is desirable in` ma'- it isV desirable to have some support to. steady the work and todampen vibration andpre# vent chatter marks, consequently I have -il lustrated a Vmodifiedconstruction in Fig; 12 l Y comprising a single work bearing Shoe 90 1 contacting with the surface of thework 12 .slightly below a horizontal plane passing .through the linerof contact kv between they grinding wheel Vand, the a'X'isjof' theV work.

.This shoe 90 -is slidably mounted in the frame v l 91 andisprevented from turning by means of av key92 mounted in thevframe 91v enga'g-v ing a'keyway 93 in the shoe`90. VThe outer Y end of the-shoe 90'is connected` with a piston 95fslidably`mounted Vin ythe pneumaticV v cylinder 96 which is part of themainframe V['91 ofthe steadyrest.` 'Air is admitted througha supply pipe 97 to a two-way valve,

operative contact with the l work at thestart- `98.11Tobring the steadyrest shoe 90 into f ing V`of the grinding operation,l the operator turns the valve98to' admit air through the Vpipe 99 into` they chamber. 100 to force lthe bearing-shoe 90 with a uniform pressure against the surface of the work.v l/Vhen the workv has k.been reduced to a desired size, the two-way v.valve 98 may be manually turned to reversel position so as to admit air through the pipe 102 into the chamber 103 to remove i l @the steadyrest shoe from'k contactA withthe work. Theprojection 104 .of` the piston 95 acts as astop to limit thegrearward'movementi of the shoe 90.:V The end ofthe' projec'u tion 104 has 'a slot 105 'so thatwhen inV its" rearward position air maybe admitted into Y lthe chamber l100.. Y This modifiedconstruction acts as a dampeningsteadying device g to prevent vibration ofthe work and reduce Y chatter marks toa minimum. v

I In the operation'of my steadyrest, the Voperator inserts the first .piece of work in the machine andthen turns the airvalve 40to admit air through la kpipe as above described,v f

to `move the shoes 11y and 14' into contact with'the work.. The first piece of work may thenjbe ground to the desired size by manually adjusting the shoe by turning the adjust. ing screws 33 and 5'? so thatwhen the prorespectively contact 'with the lbottom vof .their` respective cylinders7 thel shoesll and 14 will" 'jections 44'and 64 of the ypistons 22 and 50 Vcontact with theinishedwork. vThe memno .i

bers 86 and 87 should neXt be adjusted so that stop'screws 84C and 85 contact with pins 82 and 83 respectively. The steadyrest is now in adjustment and the shoes properly positioned for operation on production work. To remove the shoes from the work, the operator turns the air control valve to the reverse position as aboveolescrihed and the shoes are automatically moved to their inoperative position. rThe'horizontally movable shoe moves away from the work before the lower shoe, so that the work is at all times supported against any motion toward the grinding wheel. On succeeding operations, the operator merely inserts a new piece of work into the machine and starts themachine into operation and then turns the air valve tov admit airV to the steadyrest cylinders, and the shoes are' automatically brought into contact with the worlr and maintained in contact at a uniform pressure.

ln certain grinding operations7 it may he desirable to use the fluidpressure piston andl cylinder mechanism merelyV to position the steadyrest shoes 11 and 14 into a desired relation with the rough piece of workl which is to he ground, and then to move the steadyrest shoe into proper contact withv the worlr or to maintain itthere after it has-been brought into contact with thel work hy theI fluid' pressure mechanism. This is done hy manually adjusting the screws 83 and 57 which move the shoes relative to and independent of movement of the pistons. For example7 when the pistons have been moved until their projections ai or 64 contact with the bottoms' of the cylinders 2O and 50 respectively, the operator may then turn the adjusting rscrews 33 or 57 and move the steadyrest shoes as desired. .Byoperating the rest in this manner, it is possible to adjust the shoes roughly by means of the pistons and then nelyby hand. lf the machine isoperated in this manner, it is necessaryffor the operaton at `the end of each grindingoperation, to turn the manually adjustable screws in the opposite direction to readjust or reset the steadyrest shoes relative to the fluid pressure mechanism so 'that on the next movement of the steadyrest shoes they will be positioned inthe proper relation to start the grinding operation. lf the fluid pressure mechanism is used alone to control the movement of the-shoes, such readjustment is not necessary. i

Having thus described my invention. what I' claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: v Y

1. A steadyrest comprising,r a frame having` a flat surface arranged to mate with and be removably mounted on the top of the worl table of a grinding machina a steadyrest shoe movably mounted on said frame which is adapted to engage the surface of the worin a fluid ressure device includinfY a c linder and piston on said frame7 and connecting means interposed between and connected to the piston and'sh'oe to control the kmovement of the shoe toward and from'the worlr.

Y 2. A steadyrest for grinding machines comprising' a frame arranged to be mounted on the machine table, a steadying shoe movably mounted on said frame adapted to engage the surface of the work, a iiuidpressure device including a cylinder and piston on said frame, and connecting means interposed 1oetween and connected to the piston and shoe to control the movement of said shoe toward and from the work and line precision means for adjusting-the position of the shoe relative to the` piston.

8. A steadyrest for grinding machines comprising a frame having means for removably positioning` the frame on the. machine table, a worlr shoe movably mounted in said framev a fluid pressure cylinder and a pistom one of which is mounted'on said frame and the other is operatively connected to said shoe,- means to admit fluid pressure to one 'side of said piston to move said shoe toand adjusting means to limit' vwards the wor-lr themovement of the shoe towards the work.

1l.' A. self-contained steadyrest unit for a grinding machine comprising a frame, means for removably mounting' the frame on the machine, a worlr steadying shoe movably mounted thereon, a fluid pressure device including amovahle piston, an adjustable screw operatively connected to the piston land vmovable therewith, means connecting the screw'with the shoe to move the same.,l said screw serving to adjust the position of the shoe relative tothe piston, and means for admitting fluid to said device and moving the shoe relative to the work. Y'

5. A self-contained steadyrest unit for a cylindi ,al grinding machine comprising a frame, means'for removably fastening the frame to the machine, a work steadyingdevice including two worlr engaging shoes, one engageable with the lower portion of the work and the other opposite to the grinding wheel, means for movahly supporting the shoes on the frame, a fluid pressure operated mechanismen the frame9 and connections between said mechanism and the shoes-for moving the shoes relative to the work.

6. A self-contained steadyrest unit for grinding means forremovahly fastening the frame to the machine, a worh supporting shoe movably mounted on said frame in a position adapted to support the work solely from helow and on the side adjacent to the grinding wheel9 a fluid pressure operated device having a piston and means connecting' tne piston to said shoe and serving to hold the shoe in contact with the worl at a uniform pressure during the grinding operation, f

7. A steadyrest for grinding machines machines comprising a frame,

`V l comprising a frame, apair of work `supportllingrshoesmounted on said frame arranged to contact with and steady the work during a V1,ez35,233 Y i comprising a steadyrest frame, a pair of work supporting shoes ymounted on l' said I framev which are arranged to steady the work during grinding, one of said shoes being arranged to tale the cutting thrust of the grinding wheel and the other shoe arranged to take the feeding thrust thereof, and in-V to separately:

dividual fluid pressure motors actuate said shoes. Y

8. A steady rest for grinding machines .grinding operation, meansincluding two fluidv pressure cylinder kand piston devices, each voperatively connected to one shoe, Vto moveV the shoestowards the work, and means for independently adjusting the position Vo shoe cylinder and move the latter into env gagement with the work; i

each shoe relative tothe work.l Y

9. A steadyrest lforl grinding machines comprising a frame, a lower supporting shoe arranged to contact with the work 'adjacent tothe grinding wheel, ahorizontal shoe arranged tocontact with the work on the opposite side from the grinding wheel and `means' including iuid pressure actuated pis tons to automatically move said shoes, the

.first mentioned shoe being brought into operl ative contact with the work before the second shoe moves into -itsoperative position.

l0. A steadyrest for grinding machines ycomprising a frame, a lower work` supporting shoe arranged to contact with the work ad-` jacent tothe grinding wheel, a horizontal shoe arranged to contact with the work on the opposite side fromthegrinding wheel, `and table, a work steadying shoemovably mounted on the frame, .a fluid operated device `to move the shoe relative to the work, and manually operable means to move the shoe relative tothe work independentlv of thefluid pressure operated device. 13. A steadyrest comprising'aframe .ar-l

ranged to be removably mounted on a grindj ing vmachine table, a lwork steadying 'shoe movably mounted thereon, a fluid pressure "operated device to inove'the shoe toward the work, an adjustable stop to limit the foi# ward movement of the shoe and manually operable means to move the shoe independently of the fiuid pressure operated device.

Y 14C. A steadyrest forV grinding vmachines comprising a frame, a'lower 'supporting shoe arrangedto contact with the work adjacent to ythe grinding wheel, af' horizontal shoe ar` ranged to contact with the work on the .opposite side from the grinding wheel and means. including fluid'fpressure actuated pistons; to

automatically move said shoes, and means to vcontrol the fiuid pressure to actuate said pis-` tons. v

Signed atfWorcester, Massachusetts, this 9th day of February 1926.v .Y

v RAYMOND A. OGLE.

12. A steadyrest comprising .a vframe ar` ranged tobe mounted on a grinding machine ico two fluid pressure operated piston and cylinderrdevice's operatively connectedto the l Y shoes to move them towards the workand having inlet and outlet ports and connections between said cylinders soconstructed and ar" ranged that the piston connected kwith the lower shoe moves to bring'said shoe into fconf `tact with the workbefore the inletiport'in the horizontal shoe'cylinder isopened to ad-V mit fluid under pressure in the horizontal and outlet portsand connections between said cylinders so constructedv and arrangedthatthe piston connected with the lower shoe moves to Ybring said shoe into contact with the work before the inletport in the horizontal shoe cylinder is opened to admit airin'the horizontal shoe cylinder and move the horizontal c shoe into contact with the work. 4, -Y ri isofj 

